Sonya S. Wright

Sonya Smith Wright is a graduate of Emory University School of Law, where she was inducted into the Order of the Barristers for outstanding oral advocacy and legal writing. She is an experienced litigator with a wealth of diverse experiences. Wright began her career with a large defense firm in its civil litigation department, where she participated in several state jury trials and successfully defended a multimillion dollar lawsuit in federal court for a national hotel chain. She also tried one of the first medical malpractice cases to ever go to arbitration in Tennessee obtaining a full defense verdict.

Giving back to the community is important to Wright.  Wright serves at the Greenhouse Ministries Legal Clinic, provides free legal services to those who can not afford it, and helped establish the Modest Means Initiative in Nashville. She has served on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity of Wilson County, the Monroe Carell Junior Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Board for the 15th Judicial District Bar Association, and the Perfect 36 Society which focuses on raising awareness of the 19^th Amendment. Wright is currently serving on the Rutherford CABLE Board, Middle Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women and the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Rutherford County. Wright was awarded the Lewis Donelson Public Service Award for her community service and was has been named a Super Lawyers Mid-South Rising Star in the area of business litigation.  Wright was also recently named an Attorney for Justice by the Tennessee Supreme Court for her pro bono work.

Wright’s practice is divided between between four main practice areas: business advice and litigation; insurance disputes; probate litigation, adoptions and conservatorships; and agriculture law.

Wright has a passion for advising business owners. From start-up to winding down and succession planning, she has drafted purchase and sale agreements, worked with clients on all types of contracts, and designed discovery plans for businesses that can be used throughout the country to help cut costs and ensure a strong and consistent defense if that time comes. Wright has also defended businesses in a host of cases from construction litigation to premise liability to partner disputes to other real estate disputes.  Wright always works with her clients to make strategic decisions that are best for the business, which does not always mean going to court.

Wright also has vast experience in the insurance field.  She has represented business owners and homeowners when natural disasters have occurred including fires, tornadoes, hail, sinkholes and other natural disasters and worked with individuals after the death of a family member in the life insurance arena to ensure that the beneficiaries receive what their love one left for them.

Because of her own life experiences, Wright has developed a niche in helping families with different matters after the passing of a loved one, not only in the life insurance arena but in probate and will contests. She has also helped families dealing with the decline of a loved one through the conservatorship process. She especially enjoys helping play a small role in growing families in the area of adoptions.

Wright grew up on a tobacco and cattle farm just outside of Lebanon, Tennessee, where she and her sisters were involved in 4-H and FFA. Because of her passion for the farm, Wright has remained active in her agriculture roots and enjoys representing, advising and supporting those involved in agriculture with all types of legal issues that arise.  She has served as the state advisor for the Tennessee Junior Angus Association, a director on the Tennessee Angus Association Board of Directors, and the Beef Superintendent of the Tennessee State Fair. She enjoys living on a farm with her husband, son and two daughters where they continue to raise cattle.